NGO's Efforts Make Americans Aware of Sierra Leone's Plight
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Correspondent
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The terrible reality of Sierra Leone's
nine-year civil conflict was brought home to Americans in Pittsburgh,
the United States' so-called "Steel City," during a November 2-4
appeal for funds sponsored by the Brother's Brother Foundation (BBF),
which has sent thousands of books and medical supplies to the
sub-Saharan African nation with the help of the U.S. government.
The fund-raising drive began with an early morning appeal on a local
television news show by BBF President Luke Hingson and John Ganda, a
director of the Ndegbormei Development Organization, a
non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Freetown, Sierra Leone's
capital.
Hingson said that "thousands have perished in the conflict, and it is
estimated that 10,000 men, women, and children have been intentionally
maimed. Thousands of civilians are now refugees in their own country,
moving from area to area in an effort to escape war."
Ganda, who was slightly injured when a "renegade gang" tried to steal
his NGO vehicle in southern Sierra Leone, said his nation had been
devastated "by roving groups of killers who are using politics to
disguise their real intent, which is simple plunder and banditry."
He added that "the philosophy of the RUF [Revolutionary United Front]
is that you chop people's hands off and they will obey you."
Ganda appealed to his audience for books, noting that in Sierra Leone
"the level of literacy is very high, and so donated books have proved
very useful in trying to open up schools again."
Hingson, a Pittsburgh native, mentioned that his NGO is working with
the Pennsylvania-based NGO Cotton Tree Association, a group of 30-40
Sierra Leonean-Americans that has helped BBF send three ocean freight
containers of reading materials and other supplies to Sierra Leone in
the past 12 months.
Cotton Tree President Ahmed Sheriff told the Washington File that
since the NGO was established in 1996, it has helped BBF send 100,000
primary school books and 27,000 medical and nursing books to Sierra
Leone.
BBF, a 43-year-old international charity, shipped more than 2.5
million books valued at $46 million to 28 nations in 1999. From
October 1999 to last September it sent 572,000 new books to Africa --
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) paid the
$123,000 shipping bill.
According to Tori Wolan, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya who
is now BBF's program director, the NGO, with the help of U.S.
government funding, has become "the largest distributor of donated
books worldwide."
The NGO chiefs and their guests plan to send a fourth container of
goods to Sierra Leone on November 4, the last day of the fund-raising
drive.
The fund-raising team included the Reverend Joseph Humper, the United
Methodist bishop of Sierra Leone, who said that the 93,000 members of
his church operate 216 primary schools, 20 high schools, one hospital,
and 12 clinics. While material aid was welcomed, the bishop said, "the
most important requirement now is sustainable peace, because without
that all our other efforts in reconstruction will be in vain."
Humper said he not only wanted to alert Americans to the plight of
Sierra Leoneans, but also to "send an SOS message to the United States
to fully participate in the peace process" in the country.
Humper noted that "the United States has been the single largest donor
in Sierra Leone over the years, helping with humanitarian aid [and]
financial and logistical support for the peace process, but there is a
need for more to be done."
Muslim cleric Alhaji Iman Uns Jah also traveled from Sierra Leone to
join the fund-raising team in Pittsburgh.
Sierra Leonean Ambassador John Leigh made an impassioned plea for help
in an address to high school students interested in foreign affairs,
sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh. He said, "I'm
here to ask you to encourage the U.S. government to help Sierra Leone
fight diamond plunderers."
In another speech at Duquesne University, Leigh said that as many as
three million Sierra Leoneans have been displaced by a conflict that
is being waged "for the purpose of plunder."
Sierra Leone is rich in diamond resources, Leigh said. But,
unfortunately, "most of the diamonds are under the control" of
[Liberian President] Charles Taylor's forces, who are fueling the
conflict in Sierra Leone with a $300 million business in illegal
sales.
Referring to a Clinton administration plan to use Nigerian troops
against RUF forces, Leigh said, "[President] Clinton is doing the
right thing in supporting the nations of West Africa to clean out the
rebels."
From September 1999 to the present, USAID has provided $47.56 million
to Sierra Leone in humanitarian assistance and support for the peace
process. In the eight prior years, U.S. government humanitarian
assistance totaled $293 million, making America the largest single
donor of humanitarian aid during the country's conflict.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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